Stretching cast elongate bodies



June 12, 1945. F. J. FlELlTZ ETAL 7 8 STRETCHING CAST ELONGATE BODIES Filed June 19, 1942 i314 I I jede m1: J. 11-; m:

Barnard MMaz'ks INVENTORS Av pkmsv Patented June. 12, 19 45 I I A Q UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Frederick J. Fielitz, Belleville, and Barnard M. Marks, Newark, N. J.,' asslgnors to I. I. du Pont de. Nemours & Company, Wilmington, DeL, a corporation of Delaware Application June 19, 1942 Serial No. 447,616

. 2 Claims. (01.18-48) v This invention relates to the stretchingoi cast and thereafter heating said smaller body. until -alongai'e bodie and, more particularly, to uniit is soft.topermit ittnshrink.

form caliper reduction of cast tubes and rods of The invention may be carried out by immersing polymerized esters of acrylic and methacrylic the cast. elongate body in an oil bath maintained acids. above the softening point of the resin of'which The production of cast tubes. rods, and other i the cast body is made. until it is softened and elongate bodies made of polymerized esters of then stretching it a predetermined extent by acrylic or methacrylic acids is well known. In. tension applied at both ends. After this stretchgeneral, this is accomplishedby polymerizing the ing it is permitted to remain in the oil bath a monomeric compound or, alternatively, a syrup l few minutes for surface annealing, following comprising polymer dissolved in monomer; in --whi' ch it is removedj'and plunged quickly intoa moldsof the desired shape- C. Fields. 'Ui'Si cooling bath-oi oil or waten'preferably at room such cast elongate bodies.

quentlymade exhibiting anintegral sheen through the polymer and oriented concentr hall '2,265,226*d1sc1oses a metho has in tubes exhibiting this integral sheen.

Patent 2,057,674 discloses a-mean offprodncing -temperature or below, the ;'elongate body being,

Y 'i held under restralhlhgytension'until it has cooled int? Alternatively, the eltlrig'at'e bcglyv may be rs heated in an oil bath until-it"becomesfsoft; may be removed and I tchediiniairgreturned tq the oil'bath for an- I Y 0 hil heldjunder2 restraining tension, again emov'edand qliiekly cooled. The annealing treatment-has the addedeffect of correcting fortuitous variations indi'ameter over the length ortherod. I

,,The percentage of elongation of the elongate An object of. the present 'inveritio is :pro- '25 bodyjwi1l,depen'd upon-the .size reduction in di- 1 Further, such .cast elongatel bodie fares-{rel L hieh' llt 'toflbelow fits softening results from light reflecting-lamellaggdist' with respect tothe majorfaxi's thereoftjl rli'ields and Wilkens, U. S.- Patent:2',168.331 discl .e's a method of preparing cast rods exhibiting h ig in; tegral sheen and Clewell andFields; .8 Patent cast 'vide an economicalmethod. of stretching cast ameter. desired, the lengths before and after a uniform caliper reduction thereof without the desired c'li airf efter v b elongate bodies or polymerized esters} of acrylic} stretching .being inversely- .proportional to the and methacrylic acids. A further objectjis to f sduares'of the respective diameters. Where an provide a method of stretching such bodies togi've elongate body has been-reduced to less than the "Y stretching; a controlled useof a die. A more particular object is to pro'-- v amount- 0f shrinkage 'rnayibe fpermitted during vide a method of stretching such elongateibodies 1 the annealing treatment to increase the diameter exhibiting an integral sheen due to the ooncentothedesired'extent.

tric orientation of light reflecting lamellae there-' It has been discovered that uniform cast acrylic in with respect to the major axis, withoutiimandmethacrylic ester polymer bodies treated as pairing the integralsheen. A still further obabove maintain their uniformity. Sections cut Jectis to provide a simple and economicalmethod from such stretched bodies may be uniformly of producing. polymerized acrylate and methshrunk to sections of a diilerent shape by being acrylate articlesof ornamental and useful shapes. heated to the softenin point while permitting Other objects will be apparent from the descrip- 0 free contraction. For example, spheres cut from tion of the invention given hereinafter. a stretched cast rod become ellipsoidal when so The above'objects. are accomplished according treated. By varying the shape of the initial secto the present invention by heating a cast elontion cut from the stretched elongate body, final I sate body essentiallycomposed ofa polymerized products may be obtained which range from fiat,

ester oi acrylic or methacrylic acid, until it is ellipsoids toobjects whose breadth i much greats ing the elongate body in the direction er than the diameter. H of itsmajor axis by application of tension at both The invention will be further described with ends thereof, and cooling the stretched body bereference to the accompanying drawing wherefore relieving the tension. The invention furin:

ther comprises treating in the above mannera Fig. '1 is'an elevation, more or less diagramcast elongate body exhibiting integral sheen due matical, of a rod being stretched in accordance to the concentric orientation of light reflecting, with the present invention;

lamellae therein with respect to the major axis Fig. 2 is an elevation of the rod shown ,in Fig. thereof and, also, the steps of machining a. 1 after being stretched; smaller body from the stretched elongate body 5 Fig. 3 shows a section of an elongate body if desired.

which has been stretched in accordance with the present invention; Pig. 4 show a sphere cut from the section shown in Fig. 8; and e Fig; illustrates the shape obtained by treat ing the sphere of Fig. 4 in accordance with the present invention.

Referring to Fig. 1, a cast rod I is shown before stretching, pliers I being illustrated in position t apply tension at both ends .of the rod. This stretching of the rod by application of tension may conveniently be carried out manually although it may be done by Fig. 2 illustrates the rod I of mg. '1' afterit has been stretched. showing that, despitethe relatively reat elongation of the rod and correspondin reduction in diameter, it still is uniform in caliper.

shrink in the absence of restraining influence wi h the result't at e, b dv 1 (Fi 5) of e li soidal.

sha e is obtained. Following this procedure but cuttin bodies of other shapes from the stretched rod will result in obtaining an assortment of shapes, both ornamental and useful. that could only be obtained heretofore by the most skillful machine at much greater cost.

The following examp es are iven to illustrate specific embodiments of the invention:

Example I A uniform pearl rod formed by polymerizing methyl methacrv ate monomer containin earl essence to a solid body in a mold in accordance with the procedure in the aforementioned U. S. Patent 2,168,331, having a length of 24 inches and a diameter of /2 inch. is immersed in a bath of pure mineral oil maintained at 325 F. After it has become limp and flexible. it is seized at its ends with p iers and manually stretched to 42.7 inches, after which it is permitted to remain in the bath under restraining tension for an additional five minutes. It is then removed and quickly plunged into a bath of mineral oil having a temperature of 60 F where it hardens almost instantly, The rod is found to have a uniform diameter of inch. to be free from imperfections, and to possess its initial quality of integral sheen.

Example II A cast polymethyl 'methacrylate pearl rod 12 inches long and /2 inch in diameter is immersed in a bath of pure mineral oil held at 300. F until it has softened. It is then removed, quickly stretched in the air to about 30.7 inches, and permitted to cool under restraining tension while exposed to-the atmosphere. Examination discloses that caliper of the rod varies slightly from place to place along its length. The rod is reimmersed in the oil bath and permitted to remain there under restraining tension for ten minutes, following which it is removed and' plunged quickly in -a horizontal position into water having a temperature of 70 F. The rod now has a uniform caliper of inch, is free from imperfections, and has automatic machine 7 ing which it is permitted to remain in the bath for the same quality of integral sheen which it originally possessed.

' Example III -A transparent cast polymethyl methacrylato rod 12 inches long and inch in diameter is immersed in an oil bath having a temperature of 340 F. until it becomes limp. It-is then removed and; stretched to a length of 37 inches in the air,

following which it is plunged, while in a horizontal position, into a bath of cold' water. The rod is found to lack uniformity-oi caliper and to have a diameter averaging less than inch. It is again softened in the oil bath under conditions which permit shrinkage to a length of33% inches. Two minutes after shrinkage hasoccurred, the rod is removed and cooled in a water bath as before.

restraining tension being maintained until cooling has proceeded to a point at which danger of further shrinkage has ceased to exist. The resulting rod is perfectly transparent and uniform over its entire length.

Ea:ampleIV' W A transparent polymethyl methacrylate tu formed by rotary casting, 12' inches long, having an outside diameter of inch, an inside diameter of inch and a wall thickness of 9; inch,

is softened in an oil bath having a temperature of 250 F. and stretched with uniform tension applied at its ends to a length of 19.6 inches, followflve minutes. It is then removed and quickly plunged, while held in a horizontal position, into a bath of oil at room temperature. The resulting rod is found to be perfectly transparent and of uniform dimensions over its entire length. Its outsidediameter is inch, its inside diameter inch and its wall thickness its inch.

Example V A transparent cast polymethyl methacrylate rod 11.1 inches long and inch square incrosssection; is softened in an oil bath and stretched, while immersed, to a length of 16 inches, following which it is. annealed and cooled as in Example I.

The stretched rod has a uniform cross-section throughout its length of /3 inch square.

Example VI v A cast polymethyl methacrylate pearl rod 12 inches long and A inch in diameter is stretched in accordance with the procedure outlined in Example I to a length of 22.2 inches. The resulting rod has a uniform caliper throughout its length of 0.368 inch. From this rod is cut a sphere having a diameter of 0.364 inch. The sphereis immersed in an oil bath maintainedst a temperature of 300 F. where, after a short time, it suddenly assumes point, stretching it by application of the shape of a flat ellipsoid. It is removed from the hot liquid and plunged into a bath of oil maintained at room temperature. The ellipsoid has a major diameter 0.494 inch and a minor diameter of 0.191 inch The provision of a. suitable fastenlng device makes an attractivebutton of the ellipsoid.

It will be understood that the above examples are merely illustrative and that, in its broad aspect, the invention comprises heating a cast acrylate of methacrylate elongate bodyto its softening tension at both its ends, and cooling it while it is restraining tension.

It has been found that best results are obtained when the stretched elongate body-is cooled at a substantially even rate over the entire length kept under thereof. It is preferred to perform .this op ration quickly by plunging the body, while in a horizontal position, vertically downward into a cooling bath of oil or water. The body may,

however. e permitted to cool in air, if complete ly uniform conditions, including freedom from drafts, are provided. The body may also be cooled by immersion, while held in a vertical position and under exactly constant restraining tension, vertically downward into the bath, although this method is not preferred.

Any liquid which does not react with, dissolve or otherwise adversely affect the resin and which of the resin forming the cast body is not critical] in that any of the esters whose polymer is reasonably thermoplastic, may be used, as well as interpolymers of such esterswith each other and, in minor proportions, other polymerizable compounds. Also, the usual modifiers, coloring matter, eflect materials, and the like, my be included without causing complications in carrying out the invention. Of course, a preferred embodiment of the invention is the stretching of cast elongate bodies having light reflecting lamellae therein oriented concentrically with respect to the major axis of the body, since the present procedure allows the stretching of such bodies without adversely aflecting their integral sheen.

Polymethyl methacrylate is the preferred resin,

for cast bodies to be treated according to this invention, partly because it behaves well in the treatment and partly because there is more demand for cast bodies of this resin. But the invention works satisfactorily with polymers of ethyl methacrylate, methyl and ethyl acrylate,

and the like, as well as with the widest variety of interpolymers of methyl methacrylate with minor proportions of other polymerizable compounds.

Bodies which have been stretched and hardcsni'irrck'mo commoner. r

ened may bemachined into pieces of various shapes, and the pieces subsequently heated to the softening point while permitting. free shrinkage. In this way, there may be made easily and cheaply, by simple machining, articles of interesting and ornamental shapes which could otherwise be formed only by more expensive tooling operations.

Aside from the obvious advantages of the present invention, it is of particular advantage in forming the smaller sizes of cast rod and tubing and, in fact, no practical method is known to applicants of making the smaller sizes of cast tubing exhibiting integral sheen other than the method herein disclosed.

to be understood that the invention is not limited -to the specific embodiments thereof except as defined in the'appended claims.

We claim:

1. Process of treating a cast rod of a thermo- A a plastic resin from the group consisting of the polymerized esters of acrylicand methacrylic .acids, which comprises heating said rod to its thereafter, cutting a curved surface body from said stretched rod and heating said body to its mi: .T. rrrtrrz liral;

softening point to permit said body to shrink.

2. .Process of treating a cast rod of polymethyl methacrylate having light reflecting lamellae distributed therethrough and oriented concentrically with respect to the major axis thereoL-which comprises heating said rod to its softening point, stretching said rod in the direction of its major axis by application of tension at both ends thereof, and cooling said stretched rod while keeping it under restraining tension, and, thereafter, cutting a curved surface body from said stretched rod and heating said body to its softening point to permit said body to shrink.

FREDERICK J. FIELIIZ. BARNARD M. MARKS.

swig. ma

' it is hereby' 'oertiiiledthaterror appears in-the plated specification of the above mmbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 2, first colunn, line 36,-1or. .'nachi.ng" read' -maohinin'g -g m 1s n1. f,or '.'5/6 inch read j/flineh -g the word'of" before 'ne'thaorylate" read -.-er--;

and second. column, 1 line '69, Example "VI, fori' and t at the eai.d nutter-s Patent-mould be read itiie correction therein that the same w en run a the record. d-ihe ease in em Patent- Offtce.

Signed and sealed this 18th day or December, A. D. 1911.5..-

' (Seal) Leslie Frazer rims Assistant camiuiomrcr Patentethereof. It is preferred to perform .this op ration quickly by plunging the body, while in a horizontal position, vertically downward into a cooling bath of oil or water. The body may,-

however. e permitted to cool in air, if complete ly uniform conditions, including freedom from drafts, are provided. The body may also be cooled by immersion, while held in a vertical position and under exactly constant restraining tension, vertically downward into the bath, although this method is not preferred.

Any liquid which does not react with, dissolve or otherwise adversely affect the resin and which of the resin forming the cast body is not critical] in that any of the esters whose polymer is reasonably thermoplastic, may be used, as well as interpolymers of such esterswith each other and, in minor proportions, other polymerizable compounds. Also, the usual modifiers, coloring matter, eflect materials, and the like, my be included without causing complications in carrying out the invention. Of course, a preferred embodiment of the invention is the stretching of cast elongate bodies having light reflecting lamellae therein oriented concentrically with respect to the major axis of the body, since the present procedure allows the stretching of such bodies without adversely aflecting their integral sheen.

Polymethyl methacrylate is the preferred resin,

for cast bodies to be treated according to this invention, partly because it behaves well in the treatment and partly because there is more demand for cast bodies of this resin. But the invention works satisfactorily with polymers of ethyl methacrylate, methyl and ethyl acrylate,

and the like, as well as with the widest variety of interpolymers of methyl methacrylate with minor proportions of other polymerizable compounds.

Bodies which have been stretched and hardcsni'irrck'mo commoner. r

ened may bemachined into pieces of various shapes, and the pieces subsequently heated to the softening point while permitting. free shrinkage. In this way, there may be made easily and cheaply, by simple machining, articles of interesting and ornamental shapes which could otherwise be formed only by more expensive tooling operations.

Aside from the obvious advantages of the present invention, it is of particular advantage in forming the smaller sizes of cast rod and tubing and, in fact, no practical method is known to applicants of making the smaller sizes of cast tubing exhibiting integral sheen other than the method herein disclosed.

to be understood that the invention is not limited -to the specific embodiments thereof except as defined in the'appended claims.

We claim:

1. Process of treating a cast rod of a thermo- A a plastic resin from the group consisting of the polymerized esters of acrylicand methacrylic .acids, which comprises heating said rod to its thereafter, cutting a curved surface body from said stretched rod and heating said body to its rnsnsnrcx .T. i m ent.

softening point to permit said body to shrink.

2. .Process of treating a cast rod of polymethyl methacrylate having light reflecting lamellae distributed therethrough and oriented concentrically with respect to the major axis thereoL-which comprises heating said rod to its softening point, stretching said rod in the direction of its major axis by application of tension at both ends thereof, and cooling said stretched rod while keeping it under restraining tension, and, thereafter, cutting a curved surface body from said stretched rod and heating said body to its softening point to permit said body to shrink.

FREDERICK J. FIELIIZ. BARNARD M. MARKS.

swig. ma

' it is hereby' 'oertiiiledthaterror appears in-the plated specification of the above mmbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 2, first colunn, line 36,-1or. .'nachi.ng" read' -maohinin'g -g 6, Bx.anp1e n1. f,or '.'5/6 inch read j/flineh -g the word'of" before 'ne'thaorylate" read -.-er--;

and second. column, 1 line '69, Example "vL fore and t at the eai.d nutter-s Patent-mould be read itiie correction therein that the same w en run a the record. d-ihe ease in em Patent- Offtce.

Signed and sealed this 18th day or December, A. D. 1911.5..-

' (Seal) Leslie Frazer rims Assistant camiuiomrcr Patente- 

